Aksum

Good to know

Best time to go: June–October
Budget: $
Coordinates: Open in maps

Towering granite obelisks, some toppled and shattered, mark Aksum as the seat of one of antiquity's great powers — a kingdom that traded across the ancient world and ranked between Rome and Persia in influence. Royal tombs, castle ruins and giant carved stelae here span the 1st to 13th centuries AD, and long after the kingdom's decline around the 10th century, Ethiopian emperors still came to Aksum to be crowned. UNESCO inscribed the ancient city as a World Heritage Site in 1980.

While you're there · Axum town

Doors that open for you.

Tours, skip-the-line tickets, kitchens you'd never find alone — our partner GetYourGuide keeps the current list.Axum town runs deeper with someone to unlock it — tours, skip-the-line tickets, kitchens you'd never find alone. Our partner GetYourGuide keeps the current list; we'd rather send you there than show you stale prices.

Browse experiences in Axum town →Opens GetYourGuide

Partner link — Vonda may earn a small share. It keeps the atlas free.

Browse experiences in Axum town →

Opens GetYourGuide · Partner link — Vonda may earn a small share. It keeps the atlas free.

Wanderers' notes